So I just saw the first episode.
Oh lordy, it's a disaster of catastrophic proportions. A terrible, midguided, clusterfork. Quite possibly the worst adaption of a classic sci-fi novel (or any novel) I've ever seen. Makes the recent terrible BBC adaption of Day of the Triffids look like a masterpiece of restraint.
Aside from the time period, locations and nods to some of the original characters, there is virtually no Welles here.
This is gonna get destroyed by the critics, it's already getting a mauling on IMDB. Man, what a turd.
Oh lordy, it's a disaster of catastrophic proportions. A terrible, midguided, clusterfork. Quite possibly the worst adaption of a classic sci-fi novel (or any novel) I've ever seen. Makes the recent terrible BBC adaption of Day of the Triffids look like a masterpiece of restraint.
Aside from the time period, locations and nods to some of the original characters, there is virtually no Welles here.
A huge proportion is taken up by the journalist's relationship with his girlfriend, Amy. It's scandoulous, see, because he has left a loveless marriage with his wife and is having a baby with Amy. He's disowned by his stuffy politician brother, gaslighted by his boss and scorned by his neighbours, apart from the big-hearted part-time astronomer, Ogilvy. This takes up reams of the running time, with George portrayed as a brow-beaten, wimpy dolt, while Amy is bright, brave and adventurous.
The Martians arrive in a meteor that looks like a large christmas pudding, which eventually cracks. A giant black globe emerges and flys up into the air, spinning like a top, and the surrounding crowds start bursting into flames. Then the tripod emerges (offscreen).
There is no cylinder, no unscrewing, no Martian and most inexplicably, no heat heat ray. The classic weapon has been replaced by an invisible pulse.
After this, the plot disintegrates into an unintelligable mess. George and Amy are separated and everything starts getting blown to crap by the Martians (offscreen). We keep flashing forwards to a post invasion apocalyptic London, where Amy and her now 8 year old son are fruitlessly searching for George. These scenes are untelegraphed, annoyingly frequent and initially utterley confusing. The writing is an absolute mess, the pacing and editing horrendous, and overall it's a big bore.
Hoping for a big battle between the fighting machine and the military? Happens offscreen. Even the war machines are not properly seen before the final few minutes. The tripods have a quite effectively creepy spider-walk motion, and their limited time on screen is about the best thing in this disaster.
The Martians arrive in a meteor that looks like a large christmas pudding, which eventually cracks. A giant black globe emerges and flys up into the air, spinning like a top, and the surrounding crowds start bursting into flames. Then the tripod emerges (offscreen).
There is no cylinder, no unscrewing, no Martian and most inexplicably, no heat heat ray. The classic weapon has been replaced by an invisible pulse.
After this, the plot disintegrates into an unintelligable mess. George and Amy are separated and everything starts getting blown to crap by the Martians (offscreen). We keep flashing forwards to a post invasion apocalyptic London, where Amy and her now 8 year old son are fruitlessly searching for George. These scenes are untelegraphed, annoyingly frequent and initially utterley confusing. The writing is an absolute mess, the pacing and editing horrendous, and overall it's a big bore.
Hoping for a big battle between the fighting machine and the military? Happens offscreen. Even the war machines are not properly seen before the final few minutes. The tripods have a quite effectively creepy spider-walk motion, and their limited time on screen is about the best thing in this disaster.
This is gonna get destroyed by the critics, it's already getting a mauling on IMDB. Man, what a turd.
